Family Reunion Anacortes: Part 3 (last one!) :)

The last morning of our trip we enjoyed muffins on the deck. Matt, Gina, Caleb & Chelsea bought them at a great local bakery they had heard raves about. Sure enough, they were incredible muffins! I had a lemon-raspberry one that was exceptional.

We packed up and decided to take the scenic route home to extend our adventure a bit.

We drove to Coupeville on Whidbey Island and wandered their art festival down by the water.

A kind stranger tried to take our picture. :)

I loved these colorful buildings.

And cute shops...

From there we drove to the ferry, to take it over to picturesque Port Townsend.

We had a short wait, so we enjoyed the little beach there, searching for crabs and I took a moment to journal about our trip.

On the ferry!

With beautiful views!

Charming Port Townsend. I'd love to visit again and take the ferry to Victoria, B.C. as well.

From there we drove through the beautiful Olympic National Forest as the sun was setting and it was stunningly beautiful! I wished we could've stopped a lot more but we needed to get home. 

Josh was an all-star and drove us the whole way home, even when everyone else fell asleep before we got there. It was a great trip and I'm so thankful we all made it happen. Family is such a gift and I'm so thankful that God gave me such a wonderfully loving one.

Family Reunion in Anacortes, WA: Part 2

The next day we met at our place/rental and we hosted breakfast. 

Caleb was our pancake maker and did an expert job! :)

The kids made their way to our room and played cards while we parents talked on the deck.

Then a bunch of us headed down to the beach below.

My kids can play endlessly at the beach! They find so much to do and are easily occupied.

Oh, cute Foster! 

His curls! The sweetest.

From there we went to Washington Park. How gorgeous is this playground view?!

We went for a walk along the water and I loved chatting with my cousins about life.

The boys lagged behind, sharing a bag of popcorn. :)

Look at this view from our walk!! So pretty.

We explored a little beach and it rained for a short while.

Ian and Aspen with their barnacle-tri-monocole.  ;)

We walked to the top of this mountain that we saw each day from our house deck. It was fun to be able to stand and look over at our rental house.

The house is on the left and the beach we played at earlier in the day is there below the homes.

The beautiful tree Selah had been climbing in...

The sun came out and we ventured to downtown Anacortes.

We stopped by Whidbey Coffee and I ordered an espresso milkshake and it was hands down the BEST milkshake I have ever had!! I had to take a picture of it, I was so impressed!

We rested back at the house for a bit and then headed over to Uncle Tim & Aunt Lisa's beautiful home. I forgot my camera that night, so I just have cell phone pics.

The theme for dinner was Grandma Gayle's favorite dishes. I wish I had taken a pic of the food! It was delicious and so was dessert!

Uncle Tim showed us his amazing fossil collection!

After dinner we gathered in their basement to play 1951 Price is Right, in honor of the year Grandma Gayle and Granddad got married. Chelsi did a great job with it! It was a lot of fun.

There was some stiff team competition. :)

And lots of laughing.

This painting was in my aunt and uncle's house when we all lived next door to each other years ago. I was feeling nostalgic seeing it. :)

I wish I had taken a photo of the slide show of our family past that Uncle Tim put together. It was really fun to see Grandma and Granddad and my parents and uncles from years ago.

We ended the night gathered around this table sharing childhood memories from Tampico Road. It was a good way to wrap up the reunion. I'm kicking myself that I never took a complete group photo, but there's always next time.

Thank you family for the gift of being together and taking the time to travel and gather! I loved every minute of it.